Change the background picture of your google search

Saw the background image feature of google search? if not try that.

Yes, the google web back ground can be changed.. I've done that..

If you are wondering hoew to change the web search background use the link on the left bottom.

"Technical Blogs" - The keyword in Google.

It's been ages since i quit with the promotional activities of Beautifulminds.in. Last day when I checked with the data of the site I found that the word Technical blogs is attracting many a number of visitors to the site and when checked with Google India, I found that it is appearing in the first page. To rank in a key word like this wasn't something I expected.. Still its a good feeling that the word "Technical blogs" started generating more hits. From now on I will try to include more contents on the technical category (at least have to justify the search!).

www.vishnum.tel, a new domain, a new contact

I've added a new web address.
www.vishnum.tel.
Advantage of tel domain is that it can act as your virtual card!,doesn't need a browser to view(try it in your gprs enabled mobile device!), doesn't need any external hosting account!, ain't that beautiful?

LeapFish, Just Type It : Searching is Seriously fun

Technology is growing day by day, be it in the segmant of home, (read it as "smart" home), The automotive industry, the food sector, The consumables or in internet.
Internet is now ruling many industries. The phrases like information on fingertips, global village etc are now obsolete. The search and information from the internet is so advanced that it is even available for us even in our mobile phone.
The data like who comes from where to buy what product is critical for any business. Similar information helps us to strengthen our weak points so that, we can deliver more service.
For example, LeapFish™, the California based multi-dimensional search engine that paints the vividness of the web in a single search interface, have announced a couple or more of widgets, that can aid in search.
They are
1. Cyber home
2. The compete Ranking and
3. Yelp listing.

With billions of properties at their disposal, LeapFish.com helps us to retreive the home for rent, mortgage, for sale etc, when you key in a city, state and a real estate keyword.
Site profiles, referal statistics, search analytics, ranks, listing and more can be retreived if you are searching a domain name. The yelp, helps to retreive the local listing from around 24 cities, when you search with city, state and a local service name.
These new widgets helps them to capture more variety from the web. and helps them to integrate, real estate values, Local business listing and reviews, and web traffic analytics in its new search platform.

And I searched for San Fransisco Indian restuarants there in LeapFish: http://leapfish.com/search/results.aspx?search=san+francisco+indian+restaurants

See, the information is not in finger tips, its all in simple search tips. "Just Type It"

Blog from igoogle - blogger tip

have you heard of igoogle? yeah the same personalised google home page.. now you will be able to publish your posts from igoogle(search for the same in google)... The article describing the same was posted in blogger buzz




Aint that cool? no hassle publishing from a single location.. :) haa...

Software - Q.A. - Random thoughts

What happens when the bugrate of the programs written are zero?
Many people will be losers.. like the testers, QA people and of course the company as a whole because there is no scope for support!

Alexa: Increase in rank : That was for a day!

The alexa rank went down again.. above 100000 for beautifulminds.in for the week... I think that phenomenon of increase in alexa rank was for a day.

Get This Widget #0800da #4d7900

May be I'll get on to that place again.... Ha not gonna give any extra effort for that...

Alexa Rank: 87770 for the last day : Sub 100000

Don't know what happened or how that happened.. but last day my alexa rank went up to 87770. So my stats were viewable :) Looks good... and I haven;t have done any magic to increase the alexa Ranking... Or haven;t checked those blogs / tutorials to increase alexa ranking...






I think Its all because of some extra readers from germany and United Kingsdom(UK). So alexa.. do you have geographical influence? I think so..
check my alexa ranking OR traffic details in Alexa

The idea of aftersales service!

Do you know that there is a site called sharedreviews.com? Try that my dear people.. I have also written some entries there and the max votes were for Honda activa - gearless wonder. You too can visit the same and yeah.. I have to add a li'l more...


The service I have from The dealer.. ha.. that was not up to the mark! I suffered a lot! so before you take a product, please dont go for the product alone, but also the after sales support. and in that category, My vote is for HP. They have done an excellent job in suporting their clients after sales queries and issues. They have replaced a faulty dvd drive in a couple of days time for me.. aint that interesting?

Business and communication - Interdependency and interoperability

A friend of mine, who is a business consultant called me this day, and asked to call two of the numbers of his client to evaluate their response on an advertisement they have placed. Both were educational/migration consultancies to united kingdom(UK). Here is an abstract Of the incidents that happened.

Situation - Am an MCA(master of Computer Applications) trying to pursue higher education. I want to get into the IT stream of some university in UK.

Am stating only the issues, for I was asked to evaluate that.



1st call
1. The lady din't ask my name, din't reveal who she is.
2. I said am an MCA graduate and she was offering wrong courses like MSc Computer science and M.B.A.
3. The overall flow was not that good, but she was able to handle the same(Offered a call back and noted my mobile number and email address)

2nd call

Issues - issues and issues.
1. A blank in between the conversation.
2. haven't received a proper communication.
3. I said am an MCA and she asked me whther am a degree holder.
4. Put me on hold without saying so.
5. Transfered the call to another executive without informing that am getting transfered.
6. The 2nd executive started in a different language altogather.(lack of communication between employees)
7. Lack of knowledge on the subject they have advertised.
8. Lack of telephone etiquette.
9. They did not asked for my number, instead gave me their id and asked to mail.
10. Like in the first case - I did not get an introduction on whom am talking with (both the executives) and they did not try to get my name.
Over all impression hat they are not interested in doing this business...


What do you think? Is communication important in all walks of life?

Fund Raising Made Easy

Money is a matter of concern for many, and raising fund for a noble cause is not that easy. You cant just go out asking for money / raise fund like that. So what are you gonna do for a fundraising? One of the best idea is to get information from the experts in this field.
From sports fundraisers to funds for casual funding there are many a type of funds available.
Some of the fund raising ideas are, Lollipop Fundraisers, Candy Fundraising, Cookie Dough Fundraisers, customised products fundraisers, church fundraising, Candle(SOY) fund raiser ...etc.
While maintaining a fund raiser, make sure that you are doing it green and beneficial to society, yeah, a beneficial product will always be a fast moving item, which generates money/funds for your efforts. If the fund raising effort is done in a school, they will definitely get some advantages like no prepayment of cash ...etc., from almost all the fund experts. So schools trying to raise funds for Library books, trips, hostel meals can get in touch with a fund raising consultant and get info on what item to sell, how to sell, a small project study / estimation of profit, that can be converted as funds ...etc. can be done. This once materialized can help them to fetch the books they want to.

What do you use to change your login Screen? - Vista

I was rather getting bored in seeying the plain login screen in my HP DV 6701AU. So I started looking for options to change the same... now I use the logon studio from stardock. Through this program, I am now able to change the background of my login Screen :)

Devan in Cartoon :)

The cartoonist strikes again! this time the victim was my son Devadathan.. The cartoon was splendid and see that for yourselves.
Pss... Visit his site in http://indiahahaha.com and he was generous in offering a 10 percentage discount on all cartoons if some one mentions that they are reffered by beautifulminds.in . What are you waiting for? go ahead and grab that offer..!

Who's your (web)Daddy?

Choosing a web hosting company is cumbersome. Finding the right one for your needs is the most important thing you have to do. Whether you own a blog or a general website or an e-commerce site, you need to find out the right web host. There are lots of reviews about the web hosts and info on web hosting are available all over the Internet. Go ahead and check one or two web hosting reviews before going for a particular web host. These reviews help to find out what worked well for whom. Requirement for a host differs from person to person/ company to company, so choose one wisely

Identify your host

The essentials of a good web host are

1. The experience of the existing customers of that web host.

   So if you have a friend who is using a particular host, just inquire about the web host and he will be happy to assist you. Often testimonials are also taken in to account. web hosting articles are available from Internet.

2. Type of users

   If the Users of that particular web host is misusing there space, then definitely you are also going to suffer as it may affect SERP values. Try avoiding web hosts that are hosting Spam contents.

3. Up Time: When a host assures you a 99.9% uptime, then go for that. You wont get a 100%, so check the history of the host in those matters.

4. Remember expensive is not equal to better.

5. Space and band width:

6. Support: What sort of support will that particular web host gives you? Check that with existing customers as well.(oops, back to step 1?)

7. Payment option: even if they provide you the service, will you be able to pay them in time/ in the way they accept the payment.

8. Type of server(s)

In addition to these tips you can also do some speed check on the websites that are hosted by these web hosts. That can provide you some important info about their level of performance. So who is your Daddy?

Dream templates - Web templates and more...

Easy navigation, easy accessibility, smooth finish, easy on eyes type of colors.. if you are going to list out the features of a good design you are going to take hell lots of pages for them.. So if you are going to choose from some web templates, or are going for a designer to design your site, just go through and that may help you to get a tip or two so that you can improve the over all look, feel and usability of your site. The users must appreciate the content, they must be able to access your web pages of their choice (yes, the web pages must be well linked.)

Yes, when choosing a template you have o be careful.. Like check whether the template burn the eyes of the reader. Check the co ordination of the fonts with the back ground colors. Check whether the color(s) used are burning the eyes of the reader. The other aspects are the font size, which should be normal and less strain to look at, the proper usage and maintenance of the available text area. Usage of graphics must be there, and if possible avoid the same. Some may have a doubt that a picture speaks a thousand words, and what is this guy telling, avoid pictures? Yes my friend, unwanted pictures take away the concentration of the user from your contents. So if you can convey the message in a word, do it and its better than those thousand words. More over the pictures make your website slow, the load time increases and not every one will have the patience to sit and watch the page loading. (Especially in the case of a dial up connection.)

If you are looking for some sort of good, but cheap templates then I would recommend you to have a look on dreamtemplate.com, they have some decent collection of the same. And don’t forget to grab the collection of free templates (they have around 300 of free templates in their collection). From free CSS templates to premium flash template, they have it all. In addition to the same, they have the PowerPoint templates, Word templates etc… Another offer that is ongoing I their site is the ability to access and download the template for one year that too for $59.95 per month. No per template charges, no download charges …etc. Just the one time fee and all the templates are you’re for free, at least for the next one year.

QA- Careers- possibilities and the truth.

QA or quality Assurance is the process of Verify, Debug, and Update the software that is developed or modified. The career in QA is a promising one. Irrespective of the technology, domain or the interface used, QA is essential to the organisation. So wonder where will you get a job? They are every where, from the MNC's to the local development firm next door, or some where like TruGreen. Only thing is that open your eyes and ears so that you won't miss the opportunity.

Skills:
The main skills required for the QA guy are
Active with Excellent communication Skills
Observation skills
Management skills
A little of programmatic skills (yeah, you need this as well)
A certificate in Testing
And experience is desirable.

In the case of a fresher the initial package (yeah, the remuneration) won't be that attractive, but the package weight increases with years of experience. Updating ones knowledge to the current technologies in the market helps in the QA's case as well. So be updated to make an impression. If you have any tips and tricks regarding this, do update the same as comments, so that others can be benefited from the same.

Service-The keyword to profit and business.

The heading above says it all. Let your industry be a production, a software development, or a service oriented or even a reseller, what you need to maintain a good customer base is the "Service". You can have a service division inside the company or can even outsource the same. Some maintain the service division as an entirely different company(Tax issues ;) ). If you are a customer/regular user of the products, you will get a free service or may be you have to get registered/paid to avail the service. Some like American Home Shield (AHS) help the customer to get the service fast and efficient at your doorstep. What ever be the case its always advisable to sign up for the services(If you are required to do so), as it takes away the hassles of finding the technocrat/service people and get the appointment.

In the internet if you are buying a software make sure that they have a customer service division or some sorta support so that in case if you are stuck they are there a mail away. So the basics are simple. Give good service and customers will come looking for you. Now a days even the free services in the internet have got a support section in them, and yeah, they respond to your queries as well. Have you ever tried to contact any of the online services?

Programmes I cant live wihout

1. Notepad ++ [http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/]
Yeah this article itself is typed in notepad++ and I love this software.. when ever some one calls to give a number, open an unknown file , I automatically press winkey + R (activate the 'RUN' ) and type in "notepad++" (without double quotes) and swoosh.. its before me.. its so fast, easy to handle and controllable. This is the program which i use frequently

2. Paint .net (paint dot net or PDN) [http://www.getpaint.net/]
A li'l image manipulation tool that is helpful in times. for hose simple resizing, retouching job, this program is soo light and easy.

3. Firefox [http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/]
I love this browser.. except that it doesnt opens up my bank account secured page.. but that is ok :)

4. Flashget [http://www.flashget.com/index_en.htm]
This is a wonder tool for me which helps me a lot in managing the downloads in my office and home... small but powerful.

5. Open office. [http://www.openoffice.org/]
Thanks to this program which helps me a lot in creating pdf documents that draws attraction in my company as well as among my friends. This is primarly a well managed document tool. I dint forgot about the spreadsheet, presentation capabilities ...etc.

6. Google talk [http://www.google.com/talk/]
For hose hi and bye I use google talk (less frequent now a days). Thanks to google, i am in touch with my friends

7. Blogger [blogger.com]
I use blogger and i have used my domain over it. so definitly blogger is in my list

8. Picassa [picasaweb.google.com]
Picassa is neat and organisable to an extend. I use them in my blogs, for hosting my personal album ...etc.

9. Google Apps. [google.com/a]
yeah, the google apps is definitly a boon for me. With that am getting a lotta free space for my mail. google sites, and google pages, where I can even store some files to dowload.

10. AVG Antivirus Free editon [http://free.grisoft.com/]
Yeah, I use the free edition of AVG from grisoft and that helps me in keeping major vulnarabilities out.

11. Tweak UI / powertoys [http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx]
For keeping my computer neat

12 Ccleaner [http://www.ccleaner.com/]
For keeping my computer clean


So that is it. these are the major programs I use on a daily basis. For my video audio needs, i use windows media player itself.

So what are your essentials?


* This is not a comprehensive list.. i juz penned down(oops I mean keyed down) the data which came in to my mind.

SP1 and issues in Vista

I was trying to download the SP1 version of Vista. and came across a page that may be interesting to you. This page from Microsoft gives an overview of programs that will not work, that will have reduced functionality, and list of programs that will be blocked from starting once SP1 is installed. Most of the programs are security softwares.
Better check the list if you have any of these programs :)

The Knowledge base article is here

Google Adsense. Have you verified yours?

This day I got a snail mail from google That too from google Adsense support, with a verification Pin. I enter the same and the hold on my account was removed! So the hard earned money that you earned will be credited to your account/ cheque will be issued to you when you reaches the threshold limit of 100 bucks.

Pss.. I'vent reached hat mark yet in google. Any way will get he money, once am in that mark :)


This is one of the correct method of verification, to check the address of the particular user/ publisher. Login to your adsense account to check whther you have given the correct address, a verification may happen in your account at any time. :)